MySpace Tom makes rare appearance on mainland after selling his company for $580M and fleeing to Hawaii

Tom Anderson, famously known arsenic 'Tom from MySpace,' erstwhile the default person connected each Myspace profile, is present surviving a relaxed but adventurous beingness retired of the limelight.

In the aboriginal 2000s, MySpace revolutionized societal networking, enabling millions to trade online identities, link with friends and stock beingness updates. 

Co-founded successful 2003 by Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, the level experienced meteoric success. 

With important investments from VantagePoint and Redpoint fueling its growth, MySpace was yet sold to News Corp successful 2005 for an awesome $580 million. 

Anderson retired from MySpace successful 2009. By 2010, helium was nary longer the default person connected the platform, replaced by a illustration called 'Today On MySpace,' oregon 'T.O.M.' 

These days, Anderson resides in Hawaii, wherever he's afloat embraced a beingness of leisure and exploration. 

Recently spotted astatine Costa Mesa Country Club successful Southern California, Anderson was each smiles, wearing a butterfly-patterned garment and shot headdress portion enjoying a casual outing with his dog.

Post-Myspace, Anderson has go an avid traveler and photographer, sharing images from breathtaking destinations similar the Maldives and the Philippines.  His emotion for photography, on with interests successful surfing, architecture and design, shines done his societal media profiles. 

His bio connected X (formerly Twitter) encapsulates his existent lifestyle: 'Enjoying the bully beingness / New Hobbies: Surfing, Architecture-Design, Photography, Golf.'  

While helium maintains a comparatively debased profile, his occasional societal media posts connection glimpses into his life, from cheeky commentary to updates connected his hobbies. 

In 2021, helium jokingly commented connected the authorities of societal media with a playful tweet featuring a photograph of then-President Donald Trump, joking astir gaining a caller person connected MySpace.

Financially secure, with an estimated nett worthy of $60 million, Anderson continues to research opportunities beyond his MySpace legacy. 

He's reportedly dabbled successful existent property and expressed excitement astir a imaginable SpaceX investment, though details stay unverified.

Anderson's beachfront Honolulu condo, spanning 2,492 quadrate feet with 3 bedrooms and 3 and a fractional bathrooms, is valued astatine astir $3.7 million, according to Redfin.

For idiosyncratic whose representation is astir associated with a grainy illustration representation from MySpace, Anderson's improvement into capturing breathtaking, National Geographic-style landscapes is simply a singular shift.

His travel into photography began astatine Burning Man successful 2011, a festival known for its challenging, dusty environment. 

Despite the conditions, Anderson captured images that sparked his passionateness for the art. 

Encouraged by his person and mentor, lensman Trey Ratcliff, Anderson developed his skills rapidly, adjacent describing himself arsenic 'kind of blown away' by his aboriginal enactment successful a 2012 interrogation with photography blog PetaPixel.

After stepping distant from MySpace successful 2009, Anderson explored assorted endeavors, including a cameo successful an Adam Sandler movie and an effort to make a shot squad successful Las Vegas. 

However, his transformative acquisition astatine Burning Man 2011 marked the opening of his photography journey. 

Free from fiscal constraints, helium dedicated himself to traveling the world, capturing landscapes from Thailand's lantern festival successful Chiang Mai to lightning storms implicit the Grand Canyon. 

Anderson told ABC News successful 2014 that his photography process combines patience and creativity. 

He said helium cautiously waits for the cleanable lighting and creation successful earthy settings, but helium besides enhances his images during post-processing. 

'The little the camera is capable to seizure what you're seeing successful a scene, the much editing it needs,' Anderson said. 'I'm not needfully trying to correspond quality exactly. I'm trying to marque thing beauteous similar a creator would.' 

Despite his success, Anderson acknowledges his shyness, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to photographing people. 

His landscapes occasionally diagnostic unplanned quality elements, but helium said portraits oregon photojournalism aren't his focus. 

As a cardinal fig successful shaping the Internet during the 2000s and a lensman himself, Anderson views the emergence of photo-sharing apps and the democratization of photography arsenic a affirmative development.

'I deliberation radical are feeling much creator and originative with thing similar Instagram that makes editing easy. That's a bully happening for sure,' Anderson said. 'I conscionable truthful galore radical that are funny successful trying photography and I deliberation immoderate boost to one's originative beingness is simply a boon.' 

Ironically, Anderson's Instagram handle, @myspacetom, a motion to the persona helium created for himself connected his platform.

When it comes to returning to the tech world, Anderson said astatine the clip that helium was open-minded but not actively interested. 

'Many radical truly look to privation that from me. On the 1 manus it's flattering,' Anderson said. 

'I'll ne'er accidental never, due to the fact that much than thing I similar the thought that thing tin happen. I don't cognize precisely wherever my beingness volition lead. Adventure and the chartless has ever been appealing to me.'

Last September, Anderson shared a antecedently unseen nonstop connection speech with precocious rapper Mac Miller, sent conscionable days earlier his untimely death. 

Posting connected X (formerly Twitter), Anderson revealed the messages with the caption: 'I ne'er shared this anyone before… @MacMiller asked maine to beryllium successful a video to beryllium filmed Sep 7, the time helium died. Remembering Mac @MacMillerMemoir who passed contiguous successful 2018.'

The screenshot showed Miller reaching retired to Anderson, inviting him to marque a cameo successful an upcoming euphony video.

'We are shooting a video connected September 5-8, and if you made a cameo it would beryllium amazing,' Miller wrote. 

Anderson replied, 'Haha - what's the concept?' to which Miller explained, 'just teleporting to a clump of antithetic locations, and antithetic radical are successful each one.'

On September 7, 2018, astatine conscionable 26, Miller died of an accidental overdose astatine his Los Angeles home. Miller roseate to fame successful 2011 with Blue Slide Park, the archetypal autarkic medium successful implicit a decennary to debut astatine No. 1 connected the Billboard 200.